Summary: Freelance web developers should charge fairly based on experience and market rates, starting lower and increasing as skills improve. Offering subscription services with hosting and support builds strong client relationships and steady income. Partnering with designers and marketers helps provide better results and grow your business.
use the tax ID to open a business banking account where you will put all your earnings and keep them separate from your personal funds. Open a business credit card as well to make purchases for the business that can be deducted at tax time. You NEED to have a separate business account for your business earnings. (View Highlight)
Note: After incorporating, set up a business bank account and business credit card
I suggest adding “Web Design” to the end of your decided name since it helps rank for your keyword “web design”. It’s even better for SEO if you incorporate as “Your Town Web Designs” since you have your two keyword qualifiers in your name. In my market, I am the number 1 result for Oak harbor web designer, oak harbor web developer, small business website Oak Harbor, etc. I dominate the search results. (View Highlight)
For keeping track of everything, I use an app called Everlance. Which was built for freelancers to track mileage, income, and expenses. I connected my bank account and credit card to the app so it pulls that info every time I make a purchase or money gets withdrawn from the account. (View Highlight)
You need invoicing software when doing freelance web design. I use Square Up in the US and recommend it over PayPal all day. (View Highlight)
I use Square Up because it has automatic invoicing. When I sell a website subscription for $150 a month, I can make it a recurring invoice and the customer can save their card on file and select auto pay. Now when the invoice due date comes, the system will automatically send the invoice, automatically pay it, and the funds are in your square account ready to be transferred to your bank. (View Highlight)
If you have to buy a domain for the client, I use Porkbun (stay far away from GoDaddy) and they charge $12.99 a year for a domain, and I bill the client $20 a year. (View Highlight)
Make sure you also put your customers address, name, and phone in their contact. It helps come holiday time so you can send out personalized cards wishing them happy holidays. It’s the personal touch that makes all the difference. (View Highlight)
You basically have two choices: Subscription plans, or lump sum plans. I offer both to my clients. I prefer the subscriptions for the residual income, but it’s also nice to have a cash infusion from a lump sum every once in a while. I do about 1-2 lump sums a month on average. (View Highlight)
I charge $3k USD lump sum for my work in the US plus $25 a month hosting and edits at $50 an hour with a 1 hour minimum. (View Highlight)
For ecommerce sites, I only do lump sum pricing. Especially for new stores. There’s no guarantee they will survive the first year and you left a lot of money on the table if they have to cancel after 6 months because it wasn’t as successful as they hoped it’d be. (View Highlight)
Some clients can’t absorb a huge bill at once for a website. So, I started offering my services at $0 down and $150 a month and includes hosting, unlimited edits, 24/7 support, and lifetime updates, analytics, and help with their Google business profile. (View Highlight)
When a potential client asks why they should pay you every month for the site, just tell them “Because I handle everything for you. Your time is worth money, so you need to spend your time where it brings in the most money for you – and that’s running your business. Every minute you spend fiddling with the website or trying to fix something that broke or add things to it, you are taking away time you could have spent on your business and making money. At $150 a month you have your own personal web developer in your pocket with their direct phone line ready to take your call anytime. And I keep tabs on the constant changes Google makes to its algorithm to make sure your website is updated and always making Google happy. I worry about this, so you don’t have to. And at the end of the month, I am confident that the website brought in more than $150 in value to the business, so the return on your investment is almost always positive.” (View Highlight)
